Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly misses the mark on nostalgia but delivers strong enough acting and atmosphere to be worthwhile for slasher fans.
Rod Blackhurst has had an interesting career. Initially cutting his teeth on Funny or Die sketches, the filmmaker now spends much of his time alternating between independent features and larger-scale true crime documentaries. His latest narrative feature is Dolly, a lo-fi jaunt of slasher nostalgia that expands upon his 2022 short film Babygirl. Blackhurst wrote, edited, and produced the feature and additionally supervised music, special effects, and post-production. An impressive amount of hats!
Fabianne Therese stars as Macy, a headstrong thirtysomething who fears turning into her mother. She’s dating Chase (Seann William Scott), a hardworking single dad. They’re about to embark on a weekend camping trip together. Chase is nervous because he’s going to propose. Macy is nervous because she knows Chase is going to propose. They’re happy together but fear change. They definitely should have had a conversation or two about this before planning a romantic weekend together.
Did I say romantic? Oops. It turns out this once-romantic forest now has an above-average number of children’s dolls nailed to its trees. The couple investigates. Predictable mayhem ensues, and Macy is abducted by Dolly (professional wrestler Max the Impaler), a monstrous figure wearing the head of a porcelain doll. Dolly seems to want to treat Macy as her doll, and Macy’s only real hope for escape is to play along in Dolly’s house while she pieces together clues from another abductee (Ethan Suplee), whom she speaks to through the walls.
Dolly wants to play.
If this sounds like fairly generic slasher fare, that’s because it is. Dolly is relatively light on plot. Dialogue-heavy portions of the film, primarily the opening scenes, come off somewhere on the spectrum between a sloppy first draft and a truly dreadful bore. But Dolly also seems keenly aware of its own weaknesses and responds accordingly. Spending the bulk of the runtime on Macy and Dolly’s cat-and-mouse game means time is rarely wasted on overly intricate narrative devices, and dialogue rarely needs to last more than a few words.
It’s the film’s relatively barebones nature that allows Therese and Impaler’s performances to really shine. Impaler thrives within the confines of the mute character, and it’s extremely impressive to see this powerful screen presence from someone in their debut feature. Therese is outstanding in the final girl role, especially when it comes time to match her costar’s unpredictable energy.
The “chemistry” of the predator-prey relationship can often make or break a slasher film, and Dolly is undeniably a success on this front. Adding to the ambiance is the film’s deliberately disorienting set design and Justin Derry’s 16mm cinematography, both of which only serve to make the relationship between the two leads all the more compelling. And since most of the film is spent letting the two leads play off each other, the bulk of it is plenty exciting.
The bottom line.
Blackhurst’s original short film clocked in at less than four minutes, and he’s taken the extra runtime to dip into nostalgia for other films. It’s goodhearted fun, obviously meant to get audiences to share in the love of the films Blackhurst adores, but the effect falls flat. It’s hard to see nods to films like Tourist Trap and Martyrs and not wish you were just watching one of those films instead. Thankfully, this and some wonky CGI are the only real weaknesses once the film manages to get going. Dolly certainly won’t win over any horror skeptics, but slasher fans will have no problem enjoying themselves.
Dolly is available now on Shudder and in select theaters. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of IFC.
REVIEW RATING
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Dolly (2026) - 6/10
6/10
Brogan is a Salt Lake City-based writer and film festival programmer who has watched more Scooby-Doo than the majority of the human population. You can find him on social media at @roboteatsdino or at roboteatsdinosaur.com
